Florian Lordick

Florian Lordick, MD, PhD is Professor of Medicine and Director of the University Cancer Center Leipzig (UCCL) at Leipzig University Medical Center, and one of Europe's most influential medical oncologists in upper gastrointestinal cancers. He is best known for his central role in the FLOT4-AIO phase III trial that established FLOT perioperative chemotherapy as the new standard of care for resectable gastric and gastroesophageal junction (GEJ) adenocarcinoma, as well as for foundational work on HER2 targeting and CLDN18.2 as emerging therapeutic targets in these tumors. As principal investigator and coordinating author on FLOT4-AIO (published in The Lancet, 2019), Lordick led an international effort demonstrating a 15-month improvement in median overall survival with FLOT versus ECF/ECX, transforming perioperative treatment globally. He has also been a leading investigator in the SPOTLIGHT and GLOW phase III trials evaluating zolbetuximab (anti-CLDN18.2 antibody) plus chemotherapy as first-line therapy for CLDN18.2-positive gastric and GEJ adenocarcinoma—trials that in 2023–2024 reported significant progression-free and overall survival benefits, establishing CLDN18.2 as the first new molecular target in gastric/GEJ cancer since HER2. Lordick has authored over 400 peer-reviewed publications and serves on the editorial boards of multiple leading oncology journals. He is an active contributor to ESMO clinical practice guidelines for gastric cancer and has been involved in regulatory advisory work for European medicines evaluation. His research spans HER2 heterogeneity, liquid biopsy for disease monitoring, and integration of molecular tumor profiling into clinical decision-making for upper GI malignancies.